Categories
Connected Objects Sports

The Strike connected baseball helps you close out more games

When baseball teams and television networks want to record how fast a pitcher throws a baseball, sophisticated — and expensive — equipment is used. With the advent of the connected technologies over the past few years, though, that isn’t necessary anymore. Now, the ability to track and record pitches can be found in the ball itself with the Strike connected baseball.

With its embedded Bluetooth antenna and gyroscope, the Strike is able to accurately track ball speed, spin and rotational axis for the kind of in-depth information any serious pitcher or organization would want to have to make real improvements. Jingletek, the company behind Strike, was able to create a product with this level of functionality while still retaining the baseball’s classic form and weight, a key factor in its possible adoption by baseball players, organizations and possibly the majors.

Categories
Sports Wearables

You got game with Hoop Tracker wearable training system

As key as making consistent shots are in basketball, for most players it isn’t the easiest thing to practice. Sure, players can shoot around from all over the court and do so for hours, but that gets old really quickly. And even if someone has the motivation to put the practice in, there’s no way to really track sessions.

Hoop Tracker combines the training regimen for basketball players with technology to provide in-depth statistics like shooting percentages and locations, for example. A shot detector magnetically mounted to the inside rim of a basketball hoop works alongside a downloadable app for Pebble, Android Wear, Apple Watch, and popular smartphones. All of these stats can be uploaded for review to track strengths and weaknesses over time, or to be shared on social media.

To keep motivation up, training programs and games like Score 100 and Three Point contest have been incorporated, and an open API will ensure a steady stream of new ones. A coach mode allows the simultaneous tracking of up to 15 players. Basketball players are getting a lot of love with training products like this and the Shoot Natural Glove, so in combination they should all be a positive influence on their game. A donation of $50,000 gets Hoop Tracker out of the door and onto the court for a $39 early bird backing.